Winter day's doings!

Started the day out with some sunshine but it was about 22 degrees and a solid 20 MPH wind rockin' along. No chance at all for a ride, and even bumping up the motivation to get into the garage and do some bike mechanic-ing was waning.
I heard a little blurb on the radio about the North American Handmade Bike Show at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, so, Debbie was game for the drive and off we went!
We really have become a couple of small town rubes.....we went around a few blocks looking for parking and then while walking over a few blocks we caught each other doing some rubber-necking at the tall buildings, both of us wondering why people live way up there???

Anyway, Her are some pictures of bikes that I thought were cool. What am I saying......everybike there was cool in it's own way. If you ever wonder about the direction the design and technology of bike world is going attend one of these shows. People out there are very creative and excited about the work they are doing!

Just inside the front door was this wooden bike to catch my eye. It is made with laminated wood Much like an LVL piece of support beam.
There were many bikes with Gates belt drive systems and Roloff style gearing.

This was the first of many, many fat tire bikes. This had a Lincoln penny, copper theme going for it.

This was one of Debbie's favorites (and mine too!!) of the show. The stylish line made this a very sexy bike to look at!. Just Beautiful!

I just liked this handlebar set on the bike.

This was a nice bikepacking set-up, although there was better to come!

Pinky Fat-Bike!!

How about a handmade track bike??? There were all styles of riding displayed! Track bikes, cyclocross, fat tire, trail, road, touring, cargo, tandem, everything!!

Not sure how you would ever get comfortable on this bike!

Here is the ultimate adventure/work bike. These were made by Moots Cycles out of Steamboat for the forest service crews.

These two bikes were in my opinion the most crafstman/artistic bike there. except for the drive system and brakes,and rear spokes, everything else was a piece of wood. Handlebars, seatposts,forks,even seats....wood. The builder was a wood boat builder that just decided between boat projects to build up theses bikes.
All in all a great way to spend a day and even worth the drive to Denver! Fat tire bikes are really the buzz and driving the market for future bike sales according to many of the guys I talked with. Debbie spent the most time in the Brompton booth talking up folding bikes. Maybe she'll just get interested!!!
My personal favorite??? There was a beautiful touring bike there by Littlefield bikes that I got so interested in I forgot to take a picture!
Spring is coming people!!
Jim

Winter Blahs??

No, I don't get the blahs during winter here in Estes Park. I save them up for the springtime here in the beautiful Northern Colorado mountains.

How does that work out?

My avocation keeps me busy, coaching basketball at the EPHS.

Everybody on the edge of your seats, asking why does he do that???

Funny, I like the game, and I like high school kids. I really loved the game and as I found myself not being able to play much (or very well!) anymore, I decided to get involved in officiating. Becoming a high school basketball official is a process of taking a class, passing a test, belonging to a local association and working your way up through age group games gaining experience. Becoming a good high school official takes a commitment to keep learning, stay in good physical shape, and have a positive and strong outlook on the world that looks to yell at you (a lot!!) for the instant decisions you make on the court. I had a nice run as an official. Worked 15 years, was chosen to work in the high school post season,  was respected by my officiating peers, and was told by many different coaches that they liked when I worked their games because they knew they were getting an official that worked hard and called a fair game. Why give it up? A couple of reasons, one, forty something guys just can't run the floor with 16-18 year old boys, and I did not want to be one of those officials that had to rely on his partner to "carry" him to keep up. Two, I had an offer to coach here at the high school, so, hung up my "stripes" and jumped in with both feet. I had a bit of experience coaching up my boys on their middle school club ball teams but I was pretty green. Fortunately, I worked for a head coach that has forgotten more about basketball than I will ever know and we took some lumps but moved the program forward. Now I work for a young guy who is still finding his way as a head coach but has a great knowledge of the game and the tools to become a good coach and a good leader of these young men.
I get so much enjoyment working with my fellow coaches and so much from working with these young men. I believe I am a positive person for a brief time in their young lives and in my little way, contribute to the process of these young men growing up and becoming solid citizens.

If I am honest with myself I am a bit selfish. With my kids gone out of high school and moving on with their lives. High school basketball keeps me in touch with kids and I can suck the youthful energy off them to keep me going strong. I finish each season with thoughts and ideas on how to be a better coach moving forward to next year. As long as I have those feelings, and if they will continue to hire me, I'll keep getting after it and just work at being better today than I was yesterday! (coach speak!).

Our program, Winter 2013!!